Snelling RR

Nothing went as planned for Snelling. The weather was supposed to be Artic and it was perfectly sunny and spring like. Team Tibco was supposed to flood the field but only 8 of them were there. And that was just the beginning. Team tactics, Breakaways and even results all turned out not to be what they seemed.

My teammates were at home exercising great devotion to the human race by not infecting it with flu like symptoms. I love them for their legs and even more for healthful instincts. That being said, the pre race team meeting was brief.

The head count at the start line gave us 8 Tibco, 10 Metromint, 2 Touchstone, 4 Red Racing and a whole bunch of individual riders including a girl from Boston who I rode with on the Nature Valley Pro Ride last year. If you weren't from around here, you might think that Metromint would be the team to watch. That Tibco and Metromint would have at each other all day. However, most people know that Metromint has a history of not being able to work together as a team. So the only thing a rider would really need to pay special attention to is what Tibco was planning.

Tibco controlled the race. They didn't let anything go. Even a breakaway with Webcor (me), former Webcor (Lindsay Myers), a Team Leadout and *2* Tibco couldn't stay away. It became clear that Tibco wanted to force a field sprint so they could practice a lead out train. At about 1.75 to go Tibco began to attack the pack. They were supposed to attack with the field so that the pace would increase instead of attack out of the pack and dangle off the front. A few girls attacked the way they were "supposed" to. Then 1 Tibco attacked and created separation that no one was willing to chase. It didn't appear that she didn't finesse it the right way on purpose. She just did what she thought was right. The result was that Tibco was forced to block for her and the pace slowed. We were then neutralized twice (once for the mens P12 break and later for the remainder of the mens p12 field). The neutralization' s only helped Tibco stay away.

None of the individual riders would chase because Tibco wouldn't let them go. The only thing the womens peloton could hope for was a team like Red Racing or Metromint with more than 1 racer to go to the front and rotate to chase. Then very next thing that happened shocked the womens field. Metromint organized and chased. Metromoint! We couldn't believe it. We were completely blown away. We were so proud of them. It was only 3 Mints at the front and there were still others in the pack that didn't choose to work at the front but 3 of them did some- thing that we never thought we would see. Metromint has so much horse power it's always been such a shame to watch them race defensively and without organization. I can't wait to see what else they pull off this season.

Ok, so we are coming up on the second to last turn. We get neutralized for the remainder of the mens P12 field. We are taking that second to last gravelly bumpy corner with the mens pack. After we are clear, Tibco lines up at the front and starts a lead out train. We turn the final corner and I'm 4th wheel. Two Tibco pull off and Webcor and Tibco are sprinting for the finish. Remnants of the mens field are spread across the road between us and the finish. There was no where to go. Webcor took second in the sprint and 3rd in race. At least that's what we thought.

Back at registration, an hour and 30 minutes after the race, The race results were still being tallied and refuted and tallied again. We spent our time looking at the Merced River and admiring Josie Morgan's winning Velo Promo Snelling t-shirt design. The TIbco rider that broke away was caught riding with the men's P12 break away. She was observed by a moto official and apparently DQ'd from the race. So the 3rd place moved to second. Unfortunately there were no small shirts left so I could have saved my energy for the Merced Crit and gotten 11th place.

I have no way of knowing what Tibco or Metromints tactics really were. It's sort of like predicting the weather. You can try and get close but you can't know what the real plan is. Maybe they realized that they actually were a strong competitive force and didn't have to be afraid to race their bikes or maybe they did it out of desperation but whatever happened for them was a metamorphosis that really impressed the girls that know them. I do know is that Metromint took a giant baby step forward and I'm really looking forward to racing WITH them this season. They are good girls that always bringa positive competitive attitude to the race.

Mary

Team Schedule 2011

Event/Race Date
Bridge Team camp Jan 29/30
Cherry Pie Crit 6-Feb
Snelling 26-Feb
Merco stage race March 3-6
Madera March 12-13
San Dimas March 25-27
Redlands March 31-April 3
Sea Otter April 14-17
Santa Cruz Crit 17-Apr
Copperopolis 23-Apr
Wente RR 30-Apr
Berkeley Hills 8-May
Cat's Hill 14-May
Tour of California 16-May
Mt. Hamilton 29-May
Memorial Day Crit 30-May
Mt Hood SR June 2-5
District TT 12-Jun
Pescadero RR 18-Jun
Nevada City 19-Jun
Road Nats June 21-26
Burlingame 26-Jun
Leesville Gap 3-Jul
Davis 4-Jul
San Rafael 9-Jul
Cascade July 19-24
University RR 21-Aug
Vacaville Gran Prix 28-Aug
Challenge RR 3-Sep
Giro 5-Sep
Track districts August
Tour de Peninsula 7-Aug
Mt Tam 10-Sep
District Crit 25-Sep
Track Nats Sept 29-2

Folsom Crit

Webcor was split up all over the Bay area this weekend. Emily was racing collegiate for Davis. Haley and Jane were riding up Old La Honda 17times. Bec was (still) in Australia and Mary was racing in the good old Folsom Crit. Those promoters (Bicycles Plus Bike Shop and Sierra Nevada Brewing) put on a good race and they do it with smiles on their faces. Excellent pavement, great weather, good tough competition, and a Jamba Juice 1 block away, Folsom is the perfect local bike race. I'm not just saying that because Sacramento is my home town, because I'm partial to the weather or because I love the people.

With no teammates in the race, the tactic was simply to be smart about expending energy. I made an attack out of turn 1 on the first lap. I wanted to see if anybody wanted to play. Rather, I wanted to get the 45 minute race started and invite someone to counter attack. Somebody did. I think it was
Ruth and then Touchstone. That pattern basically kept repeating itself until about half way through the race when Beth was warmed up.

Beth (Leadout) didn't have any teammates either. Ruth (Lombardi) had her mom. To be quite honest Ruth Winder and her mom make a pretty amazing team. Margaret Winder is probably the most tactically brilliant Cat 4 cyclist the Womens peloton will ever know. WARNING! Do not be fooled by her slight stature or race license category! She's the one in the Lombardi kit that isn't Ruth.

A little head wind had developed on the back side of the course and with only 1 complete team (Touchstone) in the pack, breakaways were doomed. A nearly perfect break formed with Touchstone, Webcor, Leadout, and Lombardi that was gaining seconds on the pack with each rotation was attacked repeated by Leadout until the pack absorbed it. Not all races have to have a break but simple mathematics tell us that 1 out if 5 gives you a 20% chance at winning which is more than 1 out of 45. When 2 of the five are Touchstone then you can pretty much guarantee that one of them will work or the other and your chances actually sort of increase for the other 3 riders.

Sprinting from a pack can be fulfilling. I did it on the bell lap and it felt amazing until I crossed the finish line. I want to blame the guy flipping the lap cards. I'd like to say that I swear that I counted down from 3 laps to go and saw the card and I sprinted and won. But I can't. I can't get mad at the lap card guy volunteering all day so that I can roll around in circles. I'm not going to be mad that I didn't win an Early Bird Crit. Even though Beth is my competitor, she's also my friends and I'm happy when she wins a bike race. All I can do is realize what is happening and try to fix it. I made it about halfway around the course when the pack caught me and I got ready to sprint again. This time I took second to a fresher pair of legs. Not a bad come back.

The 1892 Census of most popular baby girls names was the last time Beth, Mary and Ruth shared a top three together. The most recent was the Folsom Criterium.

Lesson: #1 Pay attention to lap cards. Pay extra attention to lap cards! #2 Giving you daughter a lead out will probably make her more likely not to test your authority with regard to dating and curfews. Be a cool mom when you grow up and have kids. #3 Try to support your race promoters and the folks that donate prizes. They are spending money & time and negotiating with the city & nearby businesses to close their doors to regular income flow just to grow the sport. If you need more incentive, Bicycles Plus in Folsom gave me a 15% bike racer discount on the day of the race.

-Mar

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie Crit really highlights the glamorous side of bike racing in that everybody has to sneak off to the car to wipe the PowerGel and snot on their faces to look presentable for the cool down ride. I hadn't done this race in 2 or 3 years and this was the first time I can remember such amazing weather. I also remember being 20 lbs heavier two years in a row and getting dropped like a Rashard Mendenhall fumble. It's hard to say which hair pin turn is more fun: Ronde or Cherry Pie. We should take a vote.

There was a good crowd today. Lots of super strong girls. There was this one Swiss girl that I think I've seen at Cherry Pie before. I don't know her name and she wasn't prereg'd. You could tell she was probably going to be a threat because her skin suit didn't have a collar. Europeans wear skin suits with no collar.

Tactics: Our womens team had a great race today. There were 6 of us and we all did something to make the race hard. Our attacks and counter attacks were nearly flawless. We had a great first race together. We had hoped that a break would form but the momentum just didn't build because there were a lot of individual riders. The start of the race was manageable. There were a couple early attacks by Webcor and 1 or 2 others. Swiss Miss really wanted a break and she got it. To be perfectly honest I can't really remember where she snuck away. I do remember just having come back from an effort and not being in an ideal position to chase her.

I do remember Olivia (PB2012) and Liza (Primal) and Jane (Yahoo) being on the front waiting for the other to do some thing. Webcor (Emily) threw down another attack and as she was coming back I jumped. I was hoping that one of the pro girls would come with and we could make decent separation or potentially bridge. Before I knew it I had a decent gap and just decided to go with it. I was making time on Swiss Miss but it wasn't enough. At3 to go my gap was 10 seconds. I decided to sit up and try to recover some thing for the sprint.

As soon as I got back (Webcor) attacked. This quickened the pace a little and limited the rear pack swarm. Liza (Primal) jumped hoping to solo for a second place. There was some shuffling in the pack and the final lap movement made organizing at the front difficult. I saw Liza on the hill and I knew I could catch her. I jumped to the front and basically went as hard as I could. I was trying to time Liza's pace. I think that if I had waited any longer she would have gotten second and I would either get 3rd, 4th or 5th. I jumped because I thought there was a chance I could get 2nd or 3rd. I ended up leading out Ruth Winder (officially unattached, ride in Lombardi kit) and Kirstin Drumm (Electric) and came in 4th. I'm not saying that I wouldn't have wanted Webcor tow in but I don't mind taking second to strong, smart, classy girls like Ruth and Kirstin.

Lesson:
1. Practice knowing the space between patience and perfect timing.
2.The difference between an American that wants to look Euro and an authentic European is the lack of a collar and that the sleeves on their long sleeved jerseys only go to the middle of the forearm. Beware of this.
3.Bring a summer dress, gladiator sandals, over sized sunglasses and a floppy hat for an instant post race fashion makeover that will leave you looking like a clandestine Hollywood actress instead of a war-torn athlete. Wear waterproof mascara.

See you next week!-Mary

Webcor SportVelo Women's Roster 2011

Haley Juno-Galdes
Haley grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and has a B.S in Kinesiology and Applied Physiology from the University of Colorado where she also ran Cross-Country and Track. After school she raced triathlons and national-level snowshoe racing.
3rd Elite National Championships, Track Team Pursuit 2010
4thMasters National Championships, AG Criterium 2010
5th Masters National Championships, AG TT 2010
Overall Sprint Triathlon National Champion 2007
2nd US Snowshoe National Championship, 10k Open Women 2004

Jane Wolcott
Jane started racing her bike in early 2010, fresh out of undergrad at MIT where she competed for four years on the Division I Varsity Openweight Crew Team. Within five months of starting out as a Cat 4, she upgraded to Cat 2.
3rd Team Pursuit at USA Elite Track National Championships 2010
2nd Individual Pursuit at NCNCA District Track Championships 2010
2nd U23 Women District 40km TT 2010

Rebecca Werner
Bec hails from Adelaide, South Australia, an awesome city for cycling. She got into cycling in 2008 after being noticed during fitness testing for a soccer squad. She joined the Talent ID and Development Program in Australia, and 2011 will be her first year racing in the US.
3rd Individual Pursuit 2010 Oceania Track Championships
2nd Stage 3 Tour of Mersey Valley 2010
1st Bernie Scratch Race 2011

Mary Maroon
Mary began cycling as a bike messenger, and is now a local standout who converted from track to road, but kept her sprinter’s legs. She’s a strong, tactical rider with a quick finish, capable of outsprinting the field or starting a break.
1st BAR (Best All-Round rider, NCNCA)
1st Cycles Gladiator Best NCNCA Sprinter award
1st Premier Series
2nd San Rafael Twilight Criterium
5th Merco Road Race
Nature Valley Pro Ride winner
Cycle Messenger World Champion 2007

Emily Foxman
Emily Foxman is currently a physiology graduate student at the University of California Davis, working on an emphasis in exercise science. She has been cycling for 5 years, starting out with the UC Davis collegiate cycling team, which she helped take the collegiate national title in 2009.
1st U23 Women District 40K TT 2010
2nd U23 National Championships TT 2010

More Track Nationals Reports

Hi everyone,

I'm very happy to report that the Bridge Team scored a bronze in the team pursuit at the Elite Track Nationals last week. Here is the podium photo:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-elite-track-championships-cn-1/day-2/photos/143736

Kudos to Haley and Jane (and Dan) for all the hard work they put in training and practicing! Thanks to Dan for driving all our bikes and equipment down to Carson and being director sportif, coach, mechanic, timer, and photographer for the week! Thanks also to Rich and Mary Ellen Allen, Leo, Jim Turner, and Eliot (did I miss any other AVers?) for supporting us in Carson! It was great to have a cheering section.

Here's Jane's report:
Elite Track National Championships

Team Pursuit 9/30/2010, teammates: Haley and Andi

Our first race was the team pursuit on Thursday: our team was Andi, me, and Haley. We had our order set, our strategy ready, and our communications agreed on. Unfortunately, it didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped. The plan was for Andi to start and take one-lap pulls, followed by me taking two-lap pulls, then Haley taking one-lap pulls. Our start was okay, and I floated the second lap at 19.0 seconds, then apparently Haley and I were both feeling really good, because we went much faster than we'd planned, with me doing my second lap at 18.1 and Haley holding that pace exactly. Andi was feeling the pace a little, but she did her lap well and then I was on the front again. I'm not entirely sure how it happened after that, but sometime during my two-lap pull Haley and I gapped Andi, and I heard her say "down down down" as we'd agreed. Unfortunately, shortly after I first heard it I heard something else (it may have even been a spectator saying something), and thought that she was back on, so I kept going after a brief slowdown. Unfortunately, I was wrong, and when I pulled off for my exchange I saw Andi a little ways behind and realized my mistake. I wasn't thinking clearly though, and assumed that Haley knew that she was still off, so it took us another lap and a half for us to all come together again. I stayed on front for 3 laps to spare Andi (since she'd been in the wind going full speed for 3 laps) and Haley led us through the final lap. Despite falling apart for a few laps, we still managed to clock a 4:00, which I think is still pretty good.

There were only four teams registered, which meant that all four teams got to ride again for the finals - 1 vs 2 and 3 vs 4. We ranked 3rd. Since there weren't any other events going on that afternoon besides the Men's Team Pursuit, we only got about 30-40 minutes before we had to race again, but even though we were tired, we were glad to get a second chance. We got off to a bit of a slow start, and we were definitely tired, but we knew the other team was tired too. Coach Dan decided that since Andi had been forced to chase us for a couple of laps, she should take half-lap pulls. For the first few laps we were actually a quarter lap behind the other team, but we held it together and picked up the pace a bit, while the other team got tired and fell apart. By the end we were more than a quarter lap up on them, not far from catching them. Our time was 3:58.742, and we beat the 4th place team by nearly 8 seconds. We were all pretty thrilled to have won a bronze medal at Elite Nationals! I was lucky to have Haley and Andi on my team, they were fantastic.

--Jane

Follow the Webcor/Alto Velo Bridge Team:
– http://facebook.com/avbridge
– http://avbridge.blogspot.com/

Track Nationals: Jane Wolcott

Individual Pursuit 10/1/2010

Friday afternoon was the individual pursuit, but my legs weren't feeling as good as they were the day before. I had a pretty good start, and I floated the second and third laps just like I planned. Then I thought my legs were feeling pretty good, so I upped the pace and did a couple of sub-19 laps, but unfortunately I couldn't hold it for long and ended up fading by the end, though I did still pass my opponent. I clocked a 4:01.298, which is a PR, but I had been hoping to break 4 by a few seconds (it was only my second pursuit ever). I was in the first heat, so I had to wait for everyone else to finish to find out if I'd made the finals or the podium. Unfortunately for me, another unknown showed up in the 3rd heat and beat my time by one second, then all four ladies in the last two heats beat her, so I ended up 6th. Haley and Andi both put in solid performances: Haley did her first ever Individual Pursuit (11th!), and Andi improved on her 3k time from Elite Districts.
Points Race 10/2/2010

The Points Race was on Saturday afternoon, and the first thing I had to do was race in a qualifying heat. The heat was 40 laps, with sprints every 10 laps, and the top ten qualified for the final. We only had 13 starters, so most of us would advance. My goal for the day was just to make the final. The heat started and we went fast! I think it was the fastest track race I'd ever been in, since I've pretty much only raced with the B men at Hellyer. I also found out quite quickly that although I was energetic and excited before the race, my legs were rather tired from all of the pursuiting. Fortunately I was able to get near the front on the last lap and got one point on the last sprint, which was enough to qualify me for the final. Then I got to wait 2.5-3 hours for the final, which was good actually, since my legs needed time to cool down, rest, and warm up again. It was also enough time that I could eat some food.

Since I was still feeling fairly tired, and I also have very little experience doing points races (especially in a fast field), my goals for the race were simple: don't get dropped and get at least one point. The final was 100 laps, sprints every 10 laps. The pace was fast, but it seemed less frantic than the qualifying heat, maybe because it was a longer race. I also had a bigger gear, so it may have been just as fast but I got used to it and wasn't spinning quite so fast. In any case, I was conservative for the first 50 laps, since I wasn't sure of my legs and also needed a bit of time to get comfortable racing in a pack of fast-moving women. With 50 laps to go, there was actually a crash on the home stretch, but luckily I was far enough behind that I could go up and over. I'm not sure how many people went down, but the race was soon neutralized and we were allowed to stop (and get water). Two girls were injured enough that they didn't restart, but several ladies who did go down (including Beth Newell) got back in when we restarted.

I was feeling a little less tired in the second half and started being a bit more active in the race, going with a couple of breakaway attempts, but nothing stuck for more than a lap or two. I still wasn't great at moving up through the pack, but when I did get near the front I responded to several attacks. Luck was with me in the last few laps, because when Cari Higgins and Hanan Alves-Hyde went off the front, I had the opportunity to bridge when the girl in front of me decided to go for it (otherwise I was blocked in). I made it to the front group, though we ended up with almost no separation. There ended up being five of us strung out in front of the pack, which was close behind but so strung out that they weren't about to overtake us. Cari and Hanan were taking good pulls, but the other two girls pulled off after half a second on the front, so I took a good fast half-lap pull to keep us out there. I can't remember how many laps we were out there, but with about a lap and a half to go all I remember was trying to hang onto Hanan's wheel as she and Cari accelerated. She pulled away from me very slowly and I just kept fighting to stay on her wheel, having no idea who was behind me or how far they were, just knowing that this was my last chance to win any points. Luckily, I think everyone behind me was suffering just as much and I got 3rd in that final sprint, netting myself 2 points. I got 12th in the race, which I think was pretty good for a beginner like me.

It was a great race to end the season, and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year and hopefully doing even better. Many thanks to Coach Dan for coming down to support us - he acted as Director Sportif, Coach, Mechanic, Driver, and Photographer!

--Jane

Follow the Webcor/Alto Velo Bridge Team:
– http://facebook.com/avbridge
– http://avbridge.blogspot.com/